Antony Szmierek Releases Sophomore Album DECODING BIRDSONG
The thirteen-track record follows Service Station at the End of the Universe and precedes a UK headline tour.
Antony Szmierek has released his sophomore album, Decoding Birdsong, out now via Mushroom Music / Virgin Music Group. The album features collaborations with Pretty Girl, Los Bitchos, 1-800 GIRLS, Imogen and the Knife, and Ellur, and includes the singles 'The Heron,' 'Chalk,' 'Seminal,' 'Flight Simulator,' and focus track 'The First Five Minutes Of Magnolia.' Available now on streaming platforms worldwide, Decoding Birdsong features thirteen ethereal dance tracks coated in tongue-in-cheek metaphors and poetic vices.
Merging together traces of disco, electro, house, and techno with Antony's distinctive spoken-word style, Decoding Birdsong takes direct inspiration from artists like Caribou, LCD Soundsystem, Four Tet, and Barry Can't Swim. A love letter to dance music that surrounded him as a child and teenager, Antony Szmierek's Decoding Birdsong offers a fresh perspective and a relentless energy that's bound to resonate with various audiences.
When it comes to the new record, Antony speaks the following:
'Decoding Birdsong is about choosing to believe in something. Coincidence as a religion. Making your own luck in the face of loneliness and doubt. The smallest things can feel seminal, seismic and life affirming if you just choose to lean in, but it also asks if this is a dangerous way to live.
What happens when your numbers come in? What are the consequences of luck? Should you listen to the birds, or are you only ever going to hear what you want to hear? To help us explore this: a heron, dice, a plummeting airplane, the late-night TV show Aussie Gold Hunters and a fibreglass replica of Godzilla.'
Decoding Birdsong follows the success of Antony's album, 2025's Service Station at the End of the Universe, which launched him into a whirlwind of Glastonbury, Jools Holland, and repeat BBC airplay. He's sold out venues across the UK and Europe, and in February 2026 performed to 20,000 while closing Solomun's Alexandra Palace shows. The former English teacher had been working at a college for special needs students when his blend of spoken word and dance music started taking off, earning him accolades such as 6Music's Artist of the Year in 2023 following his Poems To Dance To EP, and frequent comparisons to Mike Skinner, Jarvis Cocker and John Cooper Clarke.
In the wake of a run of European tour dates, and ahead of bringing his renowned live show — often described as a kind of communion — to the US for the first time, Antony Szmierek has also announced a UK headline tour for this autumn, including dates at London's O2 Kentish Town Forum and Manchester Academy.
Catch Antony Szmierek Live
21/08 — Rock N Roll Circus (w/ The Streets), Norwich, UK
22/08 — Rough Trade East, London (in-store performance)
23/08 — Rough Trade, Bristol (in-store performance)
24/08 — Rough Trade, Nottingham (in-store performance)
25/08 — Jacaranda Baltic, Liverpool (in-store performance)
28/08 — Big Feastival, UK
01/09 — The Crown, Nantwich (Apple Stump Records performance)
02/09 — Night and Day, Manchester (Picadilly Records performance)
05/09 — Concerto Record Store, Amsterdam, NL (in-store performance)
07/09 — Music Mania, Ghent, BE (in-store performance)
09/09 — Rough Trade Berlin, Berlin, DE (in-store performance)
08/10 — O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, UK
09/10 — The Level, Nottingham, UK
11/10 — Cambridge Junction, Cambridge, UK
12/10 — O2 Academy Oxford, Oxford, UK
14/10 — CHALK, Brighton, UK
15/10 — O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
16/10 — O2 Academy Bournemouth, Bournemouth, UK
17/10 — O2 Academy Bristol, Bristol, UK
20/10 — Queen Margaret Union (QMU), Glasgow, UK
21/10 — Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
23/10 — Manchester Academy, Manchester, UK
28/10 — The Button Factory, Dublin, IE
21/11 — Manchester Apollo (w/ John Cooper Clarke), Manchester, UK
02/12 — Banquet, Kingston, UK (in-store performance)
02/12 — Fighting Cocks, Kingston, UK (Banquet Records performance)
02/12 — Bacchus, Kingston, UK (Banquet Records performance)
Tracklist
Chalk
The Heron
Bookie's Favourite ft. Ellur
Godzilla Hotel ft. 1-800 GIRLS
Seminal
Flight Simulator ft. Imogen and the Knife
Dave's Angling Superstore
The First Five Minutes Of Magnolia ft. Pretty Girl
The Same Heron Again
Commune
You're Not Supposed To Do This Forever
Decoding Birdsong
Aussie Gold Hunters
Photo Credit: Zak Watson
Photo Credit: Zak Watson
